Safety closure for spray cans



E. D. VELT Oct. 31, 19 67 SAFETY CLOSURE FOR SPRAY CANS Filed July 25, 1966 3,349,969 SAFETY CLOSURE FOR SPRAY CANS Evert D. Velt, 6182 Roy St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90042 Filed July 25, 1966, Ser. No. 567,741 Claims. (Cl. 222-153) The present invention relates to closures and more particularly to a safety closure or cap adapted to be applied to the top of pressurized spray cans of the type commonly employed for spraying various substances which are potentially harmful to children, such as, for example, paints, insecticides, and the like.

Typically pressurized spray cans are provided with a bead at or adjacent the top of the can and a manually operable spray valve projects endwise from the top of the can. The usual closures for such cans comprise tops which frictionally or otherwise coengage With the can bead to hold the top in place. However, such tops are subject to removal by children who may harm themselves with or otherwise misuse the contents of the can.

Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide a safety closure for such spray cans which is adapted to be easily installed upon the cam head but which, when installed, requires specific manipulation of a pair of relatively rotatable members in order to enable removal of the closure from interlocked engagement with the can bead.

More particularly, it is an object to closure for spray cans wherein an outer member, provided with means which coengage with the can bead, and an inner member, carried by the outer member and having a grip portion projecting outwardly therefrom, must be relatively rotated by holding one of them stationary as the other of them is revolved in order to condition the outer member for removal from the can bead, but otherwise the members unless so held being such that they will rotate as a unit about the top of the can, without allowing disengagement of the outer member from the can bead.

Another object is to provide a simple safety closure which is inexpensive to manufacture being preferably composed of moldable plastic materia.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be hereinafter described or will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and the novel features of the invention will be defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation showing a spray can with the safety closure of the invention applied thereto; FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view showing the safety closure section as taken on the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view as taken on the line 3 3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view corresponding to FIG. 3, but showing the out r member spread so as to allow disengagement from the can bead in response to relative rotation of the inner and outer members.

Like reference characters in the several views of the drawings and in the following description designate corresponding parts.

In the accompanying drawing, there is generally shown a spray can C to which is applied a safety closure generally denoted S made in accordance with the invention, the latter being retained on the can by interlocking engagement with the can bead B.

The safety closure S comprises an outer member generally denoted at 1 and an inner member generally denoted at 2 which, as will be hereinafter described in detail, are so constructed that the outer member 1 may be snapped onto the bead B so as to be interlocked therewith and will remain so interlocked until members 1 and 2 are relatively rotated to cause disengagement of the outer member 1 from the bead B.

provide a safety United States Patent 0 Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3, it will be noted that the outer member 1 is circumferentially extended and comprises a body 3 having an upper end flange 4 projecting inwardly. In axially spaced relation to the flange 4 is a second inwardly projecting retaining or bottom flange 5, this flange 5 constituting means engageable with the head 5 for retaining the member 1 on the can C. The flanges 4 and 5 cooperate with an axially extended inner wall 6 of the member 1 to form a circumferentially extended groove 7 and when the member 1 is engaged with the can bead B the latter will extend into the groove 7.

Flange 4 has a central opening 8 in which is revolvably disposed the inner member 2, the latter including a body 9 provided with a bore 10 so as to be hollow for the reception of the typical spray valve V of the spray can C. Projecting radially outwardly at the bottom of the body 9 of inner member 2 is a circumferentially extended flange llwhich projects into the groove 7 and is held in assembly with the outer member 1 by the flanges 4 and 5.

The outer member 1 is provided with a radial slot 12 which interrupts the flanges 4 and 5 and the wall 6 so that the outer member 1 may be caused to spread, that is, to be expanded laterally at the slot 12, and resiliently yielding so as to normally recover the circular shape. Accordingly, the member 1 is preferably composed of a suitable resilient plastic material which may be inexpensively molded.

Means are provided for causing such spreading of the outer member 1 in response to relative rotation between the members 1 and 2. In the illustrative embodiment such means for spreading the member 1 comprises cam surfaces on the respective members. Referring to FIG. 3, it will be noted that the outer member 1 has a pair of cams 13, 13 interiorly thereof and more specifically on the axially extended wall 6 between the flanges 4 and 5 at locations adjacent the radial slot 12. Each cam 13 has a camming surface 14 and a generally radially extended abutment surface 15. Cooperative with the cams 13 are cam surfaces 16, 16 and abutment surfaces 17, 17 formed on the outer periphery of the flange 11 of the inner member 2. In effect, it will be noted that the surfaces 16 and 17 on the flange 11 are provided by forming depressions in the flange which essentially are complementary to the cams 13 so that the latter will seat in such depressions when the members 1 and 2 are relatively oriented as shown in FIG. 3.

Under these circumstances, it will be noted that if the inner member 2 be rotated in a clockwise direction the abutment surfaces 15 and 17 will cause the outer member to correspondingly rotate in a right-hand direction and the retaining flange 5 underlying the can bead B will simply revolve beneath the bead. On the other hand, if the inner member 2 be rotated in a left-hand direction and the outer member 1 is not held against corresponding rotation, the confronting cam surfaces 14 and 16 will not overcome the resilience of the outer member 1 and the latter will not be spread, but instead, will revolve along with the inner member 2 while the retaining flange 5 revolves beneath the can head B.

However, if either of the respective inner and outer members be held stationary while the other is revolved in the direction to cause relative movement between cam surfaces 14 and 16, that is, if outer member 1 be held stationary while inner member 2 is revolved in a lefthand direction, or if the latter be held stationary while the outer member 1 is rotated in a right-hand direction, the cam surfaces 14 and 16 will, as shown in FIG. 4, spread the outer member causing circumferential expansion of the retaining flange 5 so that thereafter a simple rocking motion imparted to the outer member 1 will cause it to be fully disengaged from the bead B. In this connection, it will be seen in FIG. 4 that the spreading action, which is a function of the radial outward projection of the flange 11 of the inner member 2 at the crest of cam surface 16, on the one hand, and the inward projection of the cams 13 at the crest of the cam surfaces 14, on the other hand, is preferably such that the retaining flange will be spread sufliciently as to be displaced from beneath the bead B substantially to a diametrical line extended across the bead B.

In order to assist in holding the outer member 1 against rotation as well as to assist in imparting to the latter the just mentioned rocking motion, the latter is preferably provided with a finger piece 18 projecting outwardly therefrom and constituting a lever which may, following spreading of the outer member 1, be pressed downwardly so as to fulcrum about the point designated 19 at which the inner member 1 rests upon the surface 20 of the can C.

When it is desired to reapply the closure, the flange 5 of the outer member 1 will, if the members 1 and 2 be oriented as shown in FIG. 4, simply slide beneath the bead B with the member 1 in the spread condition, following which slight relative rotation of the inner member 2 back to the position shown in FIG. 3 will allow the flange 5 to engage beneath the bead B to again securely hold the closure in place. Otherwise, assembly of the closure with the can may be accomplished when the members 1 and 2 are in the condition shown in FIG. 3 by simply pressing the flange 5 slightly angularly and downwardly over the bead B, the latter serving to cam the member 1 open slightly as the flange 5 passes downwardly over the bead.

From the foregoing, it will be recognized that an extremely simple safety closure has been provided whereby the parts may be inexpensively molded from plastic material having in respect of the member 1 suitable resilience and the components may be easily assembled by insertion of the body 9 of the inner member 2 through the outer member 1 so as to dispose the body 9 in a central opening 9 and the inner member 1 may be spread so as to allow the flange 11 to pass into the groove 6.

While specific structural details have been shown and described, it should be understood that changes and alterations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A safety closure for spray cans having a circumferentially extended bead adjacent the top of the can and a manually operable spray valve projecting from the top of the can, said closure comprising: an outer circumferentially extended member of resilient material having a bottom provided with retainer means engageable beneath said can bead; an inner member; said inner and outer members having means interconnecting the same for relative rotation; said inner member including a part having a cavity for reception of said spray valve; said outer member having a lateral opening; and said inner and outer members having cam means for spreading said outer member to allow disengagement of said retainer means from said can bead responsive to relative rotation of said inner and outer members.

2. A safety closure as defined in claim 1, wherein said retainer means comprises a circumferentially extended bottom flange on said outer member.

3. A safety closure as defined in claim 1, wherein said means interconnecting said inner and outer members comprises a circumferentially extended flange on each member projecting into overlapping relation.

4. A safety closure as defined in claim 1, wherein said cam means comprises a pair of cams on said outer member located at opposite sides of and adjacent to said lateral opening, and a pair of cooperative cams on said inner member.

5. A safety closure as defined in claim 4, wherein at least one of said cams on the inner and outer members have abutment surfaces for preventing relative rotation of said members in a non-camming direction.

6. A safety closure as defined in claim 1, wherein said part of said inner member projects axially from said outer member and provides a finger grip.

7. A safety closure as defined in claim 6, wherein said outer member is provided with an outwardly projecting portion providing a finger grip.

8. A safety closure as defined in claim 6, wherein said outer member has a lever projecting outwardly therefrom.

9. A safety closure for spray cans having a circumferentially extended bead adjacent the top of the can and a manually operable spray valve projecting from the top of the can, said closure comprising: an outer circumferentially extended member of resilient plastic material; said member having a central opening and axially spaced circumferentially extended inwardly projecting top and bottom flanges and an inner axially extended wall defining an inwardly open groove; said bottom flange being engageable beneath said can head; said outer member having a radial slot interrupting said flanges and said wall; a pair of cams respectively at opposite sides of said slot in said groove; an inner member having a cylindrical hollow body; said body having an outwardly projecting flange adjacent an end and disposed in said groove of said outer member; said outwardly projecting flange having a pair of inward depressions for receiving said cams and having surfaces engageable by said cams upon rel-ative rotation of said members to spread open said slot, whereby to allow removal of said bottom flange of said outer member from said can bead.

10. A safety closure for spray cans as defined in claim 9, wherein said cams have abutment surfaces and said outwardly projecting flange has cooperative abutment surfaces at said depressions for preventing relative rotation of said members in one direction.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 543,540 7/1895 Sauer 222-153 3,170,603 2/1965 Kitterman 222 1s2 FOREIGN PATENTS 457,770 6/1950 Italy.

ROBERT B. REEVES, Primary Examiner.

F. R. HANDREN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A SAFETY CLOSURE FOR SPRAY CANS HAVING A CIRCUMFERENTIALLY EXTENDED BEAD ADJACENT THE TOP OF THE CAN AND A MANUALLY OPERABLE SPRAY VALVE PROJECTING FROM THE TOP OF THE CAN, SIAD CLOSURE COMPRISING: AN OUTER CIRCUMFERENTIALLY EXTENDED MEMBER OF RESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING A BOTTOM PROVIDED WITH RETAINER MEANS ENGAGEABLE BENEATH SAD CAN BEAD; AN INNER MEMBER; SAID INNER AND OUTER MEMBERS HAVING MEANS INTERCONNECTING THE SAME FOR RELATIVE ROTATION; SAID INNER MEMBER INCLUDING A PART HAVING A CAVITY FOR RECEPTION OF SAID SPRAY VALVE; SAID OUTER MEMBER HAVING A LATERAL OPENING; ABD SAID INNER AND OUTER MEMBERS HAVING CAM MEANS FOR SPREADING SAID OUTER MEMBER TO ALLOW DISENGAGEMENT OF SAID RETAINER MEANS FROM SAID CAN BEAD RESPONSIVE TO RELATIVE ROTATION OF SAID INNER AND OUTER MEMBERS. 